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To survive in the Arctic, people had to repel man’s main enemy in these latitudes – Creepy bone-chills But simplicity and resourcefulness allowed the cold and cruel answer to be subdued. In the Arctic, not only should the clothes be kept warm, but it should also be saved from the air, so that it can be prevented from entering the clothes..

To survive in the Arctic, people had to repel man’s main enemy in these latitudes – Creepy bone-chills But simplicity and resourcefulness allowed the cold and cruel answer to be subdued. In the Arctic, not only should the clothes be kept warm, but it should also be saved from the air, so that it can be prevented from entering the clothes..

The traditional costume of Canada’s Eskimo consists of two fur suits, which are worn on each other. Top suits skins face outward, and down – Inside the fur Each dress is parked with a hood, pants, gloves and boots. Thus, the double layer of fur completely protects the whole body from freezing. Eskimos do not wear belts, so both parks hang independently, which provides ventilation. There is a Durskin for the manufacture of shoes, which is stitched out with fur, so that the foot does not slip on the ice. Fabric made from reindeer skins not only provide excellent thermal insulation. In this case even the only means of salvation can occur when a hunter accidentally falls through the snow. Since deer hair is hollow, it allows a person to stay on the surface for a long time, sometimes for several hours, which increases the probability of salvation.

It was for all these properties that the first polar researchers had fallen in love with the traditional clothes of the people of the North and it was taken as a basis for making polar suits from the 40’s of the last century. In this way, Arctic explorer Nikolai Urvantsev described a typical polar attire of the 30s: «I dressed quite warmly and at the same time lightly I wore a foam fur shirt with a simple knitted and woolen underwear, a woolen sweater, and fur; Fur pants with a pants, where the shirt was tucked; On his feet — Simple and woolen socks, waist, fur inside stockings and, in the end, for fur, waist, shoes-«Bakare». Wear a thick in the shoes, dry in the sun. To save from the air, everything was kept at the top «air» A shirt with a hood and a thick parachute pants made of silk. I was wearing only Kulhinku with a particularly strong snow».

But the participants’ activity and life type in high-latitude campaigns were often very different from the traditional eskimo way of life; local people’s clothes did not always meet their needs. The problem was that the balance between the two mutually exclusive properties should be maintained – High thermal insulation and good ventilation. Therefore, by the middle of the 60s, polar explorers experimented with costumes, in which different animal fur was used. The curriculum also had quilted cloth on eiderdown or cotton wool. A set of polar cloth of those times included silk and woolen underwear, eiderdown or trousers with camel wool, wool diving sweater and quilted short jacket. The head was protected from woolen ballet, a hat with a leather top, and a fur hood at the top with frost. This vest was completed by a woolen scarf and woolen gloves and shoes, which has not been changed yet: high fur shoes, felt shoes and rubber shoes. External fabrics were sewn from a dense windproof cloth.

For the production of primary activity in the more serious physical conditions of the Antarctic Highlands, with the onset of work and changes in activity in the Arctic, Polar Explorer needed serious correction. That is why started the search of new material and in different situations worked on the study of a person’s thermal state. So the best model of Polar workwear appeared in the USSR. – Of suit The suit included a windproof flap and overalls covering a jacket with a hood and a lower face of the face. Camel wool was placed between two layers of mist, and the Nylon windproof film was served as insulation. The cotton fabric was used for a long time as the top material, as long as it was abandoned due to many shortcomings..

In the 1980s, instead of cotton fabrics, fabrics made from textured polyester yarn, which maintain their elasticity at low temperatures, are soft and wear-resistant, used to be used as materials for the top. In Europe and the United States, trying to create polar workwear made of synthetic materials: Nitrogen, polyvinyl chloride, polyester, and others. However, clothing made from these materials did not give a satisfactory heat-protection effect..

A new momentum in the production of equipment for polar missions invented membrane cloth and materials. Due to its structure (allowing the holes in the air to penetrate the inside and prevent the entry of moisture from the outside) the membrane or «Breath» The material combines excellent air and moisture protection properties with good ventilation and heat insulation.

Modern polar fabrics have three layers: thermal underwear, wool or fleece, bottom overalls or jackets. The main function of each layer is to preserve the heat and to bring moisture to the overlapping layer and then bring it out. To achieve these goals and uses the latest membrane content. Not only the bottom (duck or goose), but also synthetic materials, such as thinslet, thermolite, dune and quaffalfil, are used as fillers in down jumpsuit or jacket. They compete with natural insulators and provide thermal protection combined with good ventilation..